John:

Today we’re celebrating a win for the citizens of Wilmington, Delaware. The city, faced with further litigation by IJ, came to an agreement to overhaul its predatory impound racket.

Ameera Shaheed, Earl Dickerson, and IJ sued in 2021 after our clients’ vehicles were towed and impounded by private companies working for the city. Wilmington aggressively ticketed cars (including cars that were parked legally) and then empowered the towing companies to keep and scrap the cars they impounded when the owners couldn’t pay exorbitant fees—allowing the companies to pocket any excess value.

And rather than use the proceeds from the vehicle to pay off the owner's ticket debt, the city instead demanded the car owner pay up, even after their car had been scrapped.

But not anymore.

Under the terms of the court-sanctioned agreement, Wilmington’s improved system will focus on three things: repeated notice, easy payment plans for parking tickets, and convenient hearings. Old regulations required vehicle owners to pay hundreds of dollars up front to get their cars back; under the new regulations, people will be able to get their cars back so long as they either attend their hearing or enter into a payment plan.

“It was hard when Wilmington took my vehicle even though I was parked legally. I wasn’t the only one mistreated but hopefully this will never happen again in our city.”

- Ameera Shaheed

This lawsuit was headed to trial, but under pressure from our suit, the city worked with IJ and local counsel John Shaw to create this new system that will prevent these injustices from happening to anybody else. The city additionally agreed to compensate Ameera and Earl for the cars the towing company destroyed.

These sweeping changes will better protect vehicle owners in Wilmington and beyond. Now, we can use this as a model to challenge other cities that operate similar predatory schemes. If those cities want to avoid an IJ lawsuit, we will have a blueprint ready for the changes they need to implement.

Scott

Scott G. Bullock

President and Chief Counsel

Institute for Justice

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